WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama said Tuesday after the Uganda bombings that groups like Shebab and Al-Qaeda did not value African life and saw the continent as a place to kill innocents.

In an interview with the South African Broadcasting Corporation to be broadcast early Wednesday, Obama, who is of African descent, took direct aim at the motivations of extremists on the continent.

"What you`ve seen in some of the statements that have been made by these terrorist organizations is that they do not regard African life as valuable in and of itself," Obama said in the interview.

"They see it as a potential place where you can carry out ideological battles that kill innocents without regard to long-term consequences for their short-term tactical gains."

BDST:0928 HRS, July 14, 2010